Railway-switch.



No. 769,577. PATENTED SEPT. 6, 1904. W. WHARTON, J11. RAILWAY SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13. 1904.

N0 MODEL.

NrrEn STATES ATENT Patented September 6, 1904.

FFICE.

IVILLIAM \VHARTON, JR, OF PIIILADELIIIIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAM IYHAR'ION, JIt, & COMPANY, INCORPORATIEI), OF IIIILA- DELII'IIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

RAI LWAY-SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 769,577, dated September 6, 1904,

Application filed June 13, 1904. Serial No. 212.339. INo model.)

Be ltlHiOWIi that I,IVILLLmIVnAn'roN, Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Railway-SWitches, of which the following is a specification.

The main object of my invention is to improve the construction of pivoted tongue railway-switches in which the tongue mounted in a recess in a body portion, preferably of cast metal.

A further object of the invention is to free the recess of dirt when the tongue is shifted to transfer a wheel from the main track to the siding.

These objects I attain in the following manner, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which" Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved switch. Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view on the line 2, Fig. I. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the switch with the tongue removed. Fig. A is a detached perspective view of the tongue.

I have illustrated my invention in connection with a tongue-switch having a hard-steel body portion mounted on a cast-iron base; but it will be understood that my invention can be applied equally well to a pivoted tongue-switch having the base portion and the body portion cast solid in one piece.

A is the body portion of the switch mounted on a cast-metal base B, as clearly shown in Fig. 2, and it may be secured thereto in any suitable manner, either with or without the intermediate liner, as shown.

In the body portion A is a recess a, in which is mounted the pivoted tongue D, which is grooved longitudinally to form a tread-surface 0 and a guard 1/, which aline with the treads and guards of the main rails O and C when the tongue is in the position shown in Fig. I. In the present instance the tongue has a pivot-pin J, which enters a hole a in the body portion A.

The base B of the switch is preferably secured to the rail-sections C O C during the process of casting, said rail-sections being placed in the mold in which the base is cast; but it will be understood that the rails may be secured to the said base by bolts or other suitable means, as this particular feature forms no part of my present invention.

A is a rail on the body portion A, forming a continuation of the main rail O and the siding-rail U, and on the opposite side of the body portion are stops or projections a spaced apart, which limit the movement of the tongue. There may be any number of these stops as required, the number (ilependingupon the length of the switch-tongue, and they are preferably notched or recessed, as shown in the drawings, so as to receive a shifting-bar when it is wished to shift the tongue to the position shown in Fig. 1. The surface of the body portion A between the stops 11* 1/ is preferably inclined upward and outward from the bottom of the recess a, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3, so that any dirt accumulating on that side of the tongue will be forced out 7 of the way up the incline 1' when the tongue is shifted in that direction. The angle of this incline '2' may vary without departing from my invention, and it may be found advisable in some cases to dispense with the incline altogether and to have the spaces between the stops (1 level with the bottom of the recess a.

\Vhen the tongue I) is in the position shown in Fig. 1, the main line is open and the carwheels pass from the rails O or (1 over the tread-surface of the tongue, the flanges of the wheels passing in the groove between the tread (a and the guard a. \Vhen the switchtongue is shifted to the opposite position, the car-wheels will travel over the rail A of the 8 5 body portion A on to the siding-rail U.

I do not claim, broadly, a pointed switchtongue having a guard-rail attached to it and forming a part of it, as such constructions are old in the art-for instance, being described 9 in United States Letters Patent No. 69,599, granted to me on October S, 1867, for a railway-switch; but

I do claim as my invention* 1. The combination in a railway-switch, of a recessed body portion having a rail at one side and stops spaced apart at the opposite side,

with a switch-tongue mounted in the recess and pivoted to the body portion, said tongue having a tread portion and a guard, substantially as described.

2. The combination in a'railway-switch, of a recessed body portion having a rail at one side and stops at the opposite side, the surface between the stops being inclined, and a tongue mounted in the recess, substantially as described.

3. The combination in a railway-switch, of 

